


Again & Again

by Skyson



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coitus Interruptus, F/M, Mace x Daisy, Pining, QuakePatriot, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 07:32:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16081421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: It's not a thing, until it is.10 Times Daisy Johnson Sees Jeffrey Mace in Various States of Dress.





	Again & Again

**Author's Note:**

> From the Dave Matthews Band song "Again And Again" as featured on the Come Tomorrow album.

**——— 1.**

_Ooh, mama, save me, save me_  
_Mama, bless me to my bones_  
_You have started the fire_  
_Ooh, I'm weak now in my soul_

“ _That's_ the new Director?” Daisy wondered in almost a whisper, as she watched him hurry out of the med lab, towel slung over his naked shoulder. “He looks... different without the suit.”

“Well, yes... he’s quite fit.” Jemma replied distractedly and distantly, sounding more like a doctor making an observation than how Daisy had sounded. After a beat, Jemma realized, and raised her eyebrow at her friend. “Daisy, are you crushing on our Director?”

“What? No!” Daisy protested. She stared thoughtfully at the abandoned treadmill. “Isn’t it interesting, though, how someone can look so... firm, and soft, all at the same time?”

Jemma pursed her lips in amusement but turned away before Daisy could see.

 

**——— 2.**

_With your poison sting_  
_This is deep and true_  
_I'd do anything_  
_Your sweet perfume_  
_You bleed_  
_Till the well is overflown_

“Just don’t mess with it or anything, okay? Act normal. No one will be able to see it through your suit.” Daisy promised, as she tore off a small piece of medical tape with her teeth and secured the small microphone against his sternum.

His skin was warm, and the smattering of hair on his chest was soft. It was lighter in color than the hair on his head. She did her best to ignore those observations.

“You sure this will work?” Mace asked worriedly, his head ducked as he watched her work. “It never works in the movies.”

“Because movies require plot devices,” Daisy replied distractedly, as she tried to smooth the wire down around his ribs. He flinched and sucked in a breath, and she glanced up at him in amusement.

“I’m not ticklish.” He argued immediately, and when she wryly raised her eyebrow, making sure to brush his skin again as she smoothed the piece of tape down, he flinched again. “Okay don’t tell anyone.” He begged, and she smirked, but nodded and continued focusing on her task. Her list of curiosities about the new Director seemed to be growing ever longer, though.

“Turn,” She murmured, “and lift your shirt up.” He did as requested, and she secured the mic pack to the back of his waistband, the box flipped so it was hidden beneath his belt. The back of her fingers slid against his skin and she paused, amazed by how soft he felt.

Of course it wasn't like he was some reptile or anything, but she realized now that she hadn’t exactly been thinking of him as a person, before this. As something more than just the figurehead in a suit. As a man.

She wondered if his skin everywhere was this soft.

“Everything okay?” He wondered when she hadn’t moved in a minute.

“Fine,” She promised, pulling her hand back and touching his trouser-clad hips only briefly to guide him back around. She kept her gaze studiously on the wire as she made sure it was all secured.

For a guy who didn’t know much about combat, he was built for it. He had broad shoulders and a strong chest, and while his arms might not be on Thor’s level, they were still quite nice to look at.

“All good.” Daisy announced suddenly, straightening and taking a couple of steps back. She gave him a coy look, to cover up her fluster, “Time to suit up, Director.”

He grinned with nervous excitement, and began buttoning up his dress shirt. Daisy turned her back to him to focus on the communications computer.

Shit. She was crushing on the Director.

 

**——— 3.**

_You're my gold, my hunger_  
_Where you go, I will follow_  
_Sweet poison sting_  
_I see the light_  
_I see everything in you tonight_  
_I breathe_

“Come on! Focus!” Piper’s annoyance echoed out of the gym and into the hall, and Daisy paused as she and May were strolling by. May paused as well, and raised her eyebrow toward Daisy. In mutual silent agreement, they stepped back to the doorway and looked into the room.

Piper was standing on the mats with her hands propped on her hips, glaring down at Mace, who was just pushing himself up into standing position.

“I’m sorry. I’m distracted today.” He apologized, rubbing at his neck.

“You think your enemy is gonna wait for you not to be distracted?” Piper challenged, and he glowered.

“I know, I know!”

It sounded to Daisy like they’d been at this for a while already. It looked like it, too; their t-shirts were sweaty and their hair damp.

“Again!” Piper ordered, and May folded her arms across her chest as she leaned against the door jamb. Daisy mirrored her on the other side of the entryway.

Mace gathered himself for a moment, and then attacked, feigning a leg sweep before thrusting his fist into Piper's stomach. She took the hit and then parried her own, and Daisy watched in surprise as Mace actually held his own for quite a while.

Then he noticed that they had an audience, and he hesitated, and Piper’s fist landed against his nose with a crack.

“Oh, shit.” Piper cursed, as Daisy and May both straightened from the door frame and entered the gym. Mace’s hands immediately went to his face, but blood had already dripped down the front of his shirt and was now seeping through his fingers.

“- fine,” He groaned, waving Piper off when she tried to get a closer look.

“You’re lighter on your feet than I expected.” May commented, and Daisy was surprised at the tone of praise. It had taken Daisy _forever_  to get such a tone out of Melinda May. “You should go see Simmons. Get that set.” May advised him, nonplussed by the amount of blood in his hands.

“Here,” Daisy reached for a nearby towel and brushed his hands out of the way as she cupped it against his face. He grunted again and flinched back from her, taking the towel for himself.

“Sorry,” Piper winced, and he shook his head slightly.

“Told me to focus.” He pointed out in a muffled and defeated tone.

“Daisy, help him get to the med bay,” May advised, and Daisy nodded. She focused back toward Piper, “Have you ever considered teaching him more footwork? He can probably move a lot quicker than he is right now. Let me show you some things,”

Daisy wrapped her fingers around Mace’s forearm, guiding him down the hallway as he kept the towel plastered to his face and his head tilted back.

“You know, you’re not too shabby,” Daisy commented. “And you earned high praise from Melinda May. That doesn’t come lightly.”

“Only because her girlfriend is the one training me.” Mace grumbled. “If she told me I sucked, what does that say about Piper’s teaching ability?” Daisy smirked at that.

“Maybe.” She conceded. “But still, I watched you in there; when you stop thinking so much and just let your body flow through the movements, you know what you’re doing.”

He lowered his head to give her a warm look.

“Thanks, Daisy.” He replied softly, clearly touched by her words. Another glob of blood poured from his nose and she grimaced, and he quickly caught it in the towel and pressed the stained fabric back against his face.

“Come on,” She murmured, sliding her hand up to his elbow.

She helped him sit, and kept her hand on his shoulder as Jemma checked out his injury. Daisy didn’t really think anything of it - she’d gotten injured while sparring before, and it was usually an injury to the pride more than it was to the body. She didn’t want Mace to regress after this.

Jemma set his nose easily, advised him to keep clean gauze in his nose until the bleeding totally stopped, and then sent them on their way.

Daisy wasn’t sure why she followed him up to his office. She just didn’t really have anywhere else she needed to be, yet.

“Ugh,” Mace grumbled, peeling off his t-shirt with no regard for her presence. “This one’s ruined.”

He balled it up and tossed it into his trash can by his desk, bending down to open up the bottom drawer and retrieving a white undershirt. Daisy tried not to stare too much at the line of his back, and joked,

“So you go for a white shirt to replace it?”

“Well, I do have to put my suit on. I can’t direct in workout pants.” He joked in return, turning to face her as he shrugged the clean shirt on.

Daisy’s tongue darted against her lips before she could even think about it, entranced by the way his muscles shifted with movement. He was smiling at her when he lowered the shirt over his head and straightened it out, and she was slow to drag her eyes back up to his face.

He tilted his head curiously at her, his smile wavering just slightly. She pointed at his nose.

“You should change that gauze before you’ve got to change your shirt, again.” She informed him, noting the red already staining the gauze. It’d probably need changed rather frequently for the first few hours or so.

She turned and left the office, hearing him sigh behind her.

And if she spent the rest of the day daydreaming about a bead of sweat curling down the edge of a jaw, well, no one else was gonna know about it.

 

**——— 4.**

_In and out here we go, oh oh_  
_Over and again and again_  
_Oh and the love you give to me_  
_Here mama, I'ma give it back to you_

"Again?! Seriously?!" Mace complained as Mack shoved him into the back of the SUV, covering him as he scrambled inside.

"Go, go!" Mack shouted over the gunfire as Daisy slid into the driver's seat, putting her foot on the pedal even as Mack was still climbing in after Mace. He slammed the door shut behind him just as bullets pinged against the glass where his head had been.

"Why are people always trying to kill me?" Mace whined as he and Mack settled themselves into their seats and buckled in. Mack kept his Icer out and his eyes trained behind them.

"Seriously?" Mack grumbled.

"No one is going to want to dialogue with me, if these events keep turning into shooting galleries." Mace complained.

"That's the point," Daisy told him as she quickly maneuvered the SUV through traffic and away from danger. "If they can't take you out, then they'll make it difficult for people to hear you. Scare the public enough not to want to engage with you for fear of collateral damage."

"How can an Inhuman feel safe with S.H.I.E.L.D. if S.H.I.E.L.D. can't even keep themselves safe?" Mack murmured in understanding, and Daisy nodded as she glanced in the rearview mirror.

"We've got company." She noted, and Mack was the one to nod this time.

"Yeah, I see that. I won't be able to take them out with just the Icer. Think you can lose them?" Mack asked her, just before another bullet pinged off the back window.

"I think Bayside is the closest safe house," Daisy considered.

"Agreed. Let's lose these guys and rendezvous there."

"Where's Coulson and his team?" Daisy wondered as she gauged the space ahead for a route.

Mack tapped at the comms unit in his ear, and grimaced.

"It's cutting in and out. Might've gotten fried by that flash-bang." Mack informed her, and she figured they should count their blessings that the attackers hadn't used any more dangerous types of explosives. "From what I can tell, they're still taking care of our friends back at the park. Making sure the civilians are okay."

"Good," Mace praised. "That's priority."

" _You_ are priority," Daisy argued, glancing in the rearview again as their tail drew closer, weaving around behind them in an attempt to get by their side.

"What's Bayside?" Mace asked, instead of arguing further. "Why don't I know about it?"

"One of Coulson's," Mack answered distractedly as he continued to keep an eye on their tail.

"From the early days," Daisy further clarified, and noticed Mace's pout.

"How come I don't know about it?" He muttered again, and Daisy smirked.

"Coulson doesn't tell you everything, huh?" She teased. "Well he doesn't tell us, either. I'm sure there are plenty others we don't know about."

They ditched the SUV a couple of blocks away from the safe house and walked the rest of the distance, losing the bad guys and making it to the safe house with no further problems. However, Mack's comms weren't working at all anymore, so they had no idea how things looked on Coulson's end.

The safe house was a clean studio apartment in an otherwise unassuming, rather degraded-looking building. The door had a palm reader just inside that Daisy had to use to disengage the alarm, and when her own palm didn't work, on a whim she grabbed Mace's wrist and yanked him closer, pressing his hand against it. The system pinged green and the warning beeps stopped, thankfully.

"Safe houses I don't know about are keyed for me anyway?" Mace wondered in surprise, and Mack rolled his eyes as he set the interior locks on the door.

"You're the Director, remember?" Mack snarked. Daisy realized that he'd been clipped by a bullet at some point; the outside shoulder of his suit torn and red with blood. He grimaced as he tried to shrug off his suit jacket, and Daisy quickly approached him and helped him out of it.

"Hey, can you go check under the sink for a first aid kit?" Daisy asked Mace. "Or maybe the bathroom." Mace nodded with a serious expression and quickly did as asked, and Daisy removed her gauntlets as Mack unbuttoned his dress shirt. Daisy playfully whistled at him, and he snorted and shook his head at her. "Elena is one lucky lady,"

"I'm the lucky one," Mack immediately returned, not joking at all as he set his shirt over the back of one of the dining chairs. Daisy smiled fondly as she perused the kitchen drawers for a washrag, and then ran it under some warm water.

"I'll say," She mused as she carefully cleaned around his wound. "Nothing more than a graze. Won't even need stitches."

"Thank goodness," Mack rolled his eyes. "As if I'd let you anywhere near me with a needle."

"Me? Oh, I was gonna have Mace do it,"

"Dear God,"

"Come on!" Mace protested, having heard them as he entered the room again, first aid box in hand. "I'd be careful!"

Mack gave him a dubious expression, and Daisy held her hand out for the box as Mace passed it over. Daisy got out what she needed as Mace removed his jacket as well, sighing heavily as he settled into one of the dining chairs. She glanced over at him as she cleaned around Mack's wound with an alcohol wipe, and admittedly got a little distracted as she watched him roll up the sleeves of his shirt.

"Ow!" Mack hissed, flinching away when the alcohol burned into the deeper part of the cut.

"Sorry," Daisy studiously focused on the job at hand, hoping she wasn't blushing as she felt like she was. Geez, she was acting like a teenager with a crush. She needed to pull it together.

(It wasn't her fault that guys were always one hundred and fifty percent hotter with their sleeves rolled up. That was just a fact of life.)

She used a couple of butterfly bandages to hold the edges of the wound together as it healed, and she patted Mack's elbow before she stepped away.

"Good to go." She announced, gathering the trash and throwing it away in the kitchen. She checked the refrigerator while she was in there, out of curiosity.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" Mace wondered, and she felt his eyes on her back.

"Until we can get in contact with Coulson," Mack answered as he carefully pulled his shirt back on. "Our SUV is pretty much done for. We'll need a ride back to HQ."

"Why don't we call a Quinjet?" Mace reasoned.

"There's nowhere to land it safely nearby," Mack shook his head. "And I'd rather the three of us not go traipsing out into the streets again. We don't know how many of these guys are out there, or if they'd blocked off a search radius."

"What about Phil?" Mace worried.

"I wouldn't worry about him," Mack smirked, "He can take care of himself."

"How about some Chunky chicken noodle soup?" Daisy announced, retrieving a couple of cans from one of the cabinets. She was starving, and she might as well eat while they waited for a retrieval team.

"I'll do it," Mace hopped to his feet and joined her in the kitchen. "You guys have been doing all the work so far."

"We've been doing our job," Daisy pointed out, and he shrugged and tugged the cans from her hands.

"Your job is to protect me, and my job as Director is to take care of you." He replied, something soft in his gaze as he smiled a little at her. Then he glanced over to Mack. "I gotta keep my agents happy, right? Especially the one's watching my back."

Mack smirked again, and nodded in agreement.

"So," Mace turned back toward Daisy, "the least I can do is heat up some soup for you."

"Sure," She shrugged, leaning on the counter beside the sink, watching as he proceeded to search for a large enough pan and a can opener.

Mack was still hanging out in the dining room, but she paid him no mind as she observed Mace work, admiring his hands and forearms as he occasionally stirred a wooden spoon through the warming soup.

"Where'd you learn how to drive like that?" Mace wondered softly, his gaze on the pot in front of him.

"I don't know how much Coulson told you, or what my file says, but I lived out of a van for quite a few years." Daisy began.

"As a hacker for the Rising Tide," Mace remembered.

"Driving around L.A. teaches you real quick how to drive defensively - or aggressively, depending on the situation. Anyway, those SUV's handle way better than my van ever did. I didn't even scratch a single other vehicle, this time!"

"I noticed that," He teased lightly, glancing over at her. He had that admiring look that she's seen a few times before, but this time she didn't look away or shrug it off. She smiled back at him, and then his smile slowly widened.

Mack quietly cleared his throat, and Daisy realized they'd just been staring at one another for a little too long. Mace ducked his head back toward the stove and Daisy darted her eyes toward her old partner. He was sitting there with a barely-hidden smug look on his face, and he raised his eyebrow high. She pursed her lips at him and folded her arms across her chest, and he merely lifted his other eyebrow to join the first, his smirk widening as he pulled the earpiece from his ear and checked it out before dropping it onto the table.

"Coulson usually keeps a burner or two hidden away in these places. I'll go check the bedrooms for one." Mack announced, pushing himself up and strolling into the back little hall beyond the bathroom.

"I see you, you know." Mace told her quietly as soon as they were alone.

"See me what?" Daisy asked, feeling mildly nervous all of a sudden.

"Looking." He replied, glancing over without actually turning his head toward her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She returned, grimacing that her tone didn't sound as casual and unconcerned as she'd wanted it to.

He turned his head to look at her directly, now, but he didn't say anything else. Daisy met his stare, willing her expression to remain passive. It wasn't exactly a staring contest, as he'd already blinked at least once, but there was some kind of challenge here and she wasn't about to back down.

His hands lifted up to the knot of his tie, and she watched as he tugged it loose in what seemed like slow motion. The air in the room suddenly felt warm, almost stifling, and whatever the challenge was she knew that she lost the moment her eyes dropped down to the movement of his hands. Her lips parted slightly as he pulled the fabric from beneath his collar, wrapping it smoothly around his fist before tucking it into his trouser pocket.

"You,"

"Found one!" Mack announced, unknowingly cutting into the tension and interrupting whatever Mace's soft comment was going to be, and Daisy breathed in deeply. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath.

"I'm going to clean up." She told nobody specifically, already turning away and slipping by Mack, heading for the bathroom.

Her expression in the mirror looking back at her was one of arousal, but when she closed her eyes, all she saw was Mace making the same exact expression.

 

**——— 5.**

_Reaching out, reaching out for you_  
_Just to kiss your mouth_  
_Wanna turn you inside out_

Mace never brought up what had happened at Bayside, but Daisy wouldn't exactly say that he went back to acting normal again, either.

Case in point, Fitz was talking with the team about his new and improved DWARFs, but if Mace was paying him any attention it certainly didn't look like it. He was staring directly at Daisy, his head dropped slightly with his chin close to his chest, to perhaps make it appear that he was simply focusing his eyes on nothing as he was listening. He was giving her that look, though, and there was no way he was thinking about forensics retrievers with that expression on his face.

Daisy furrowed her brow slightly at him, otherwise doing her best to appear unaffected. That stifling warmth seemed to be filling her up again, and she very quietly cleared her throat and pointedly focused her gaze on Fitz.

She could still feel the weight of Mace's eyes, though.

She felt their weight the following morning, as well, while she was sparring with Coulson. She figured it was only fair, after she'd watched him fighting Piper.

And okay, maybe she used the opportunity to show off just a little bit.

"Geez, Daisy, this is just a training match, you know," Coulson grimaced, rubbing his shin after she'd dropped him with a well-timed leg sweep. "If this is really you at fifty percent, maybe give me twenty-five?"

"Sorry," She winced as she gave him a hand up. "Got too into it, I guess."

"Or too distracted." He murmured so only she could hear, raising his eyebrow at her. She mirrored his expression. He took a step back from her, and looked over at Mace. "Why don't you take over for me? Let me have a water break." He called out.

"Wait," Daisy started.

"Sure thing," Mace immediately agreed, stepping further into the gym and onto the mats. Daisy stared at him in surprise.

"You seriously want to spar with me?" She wondered incredulously, and he gave her a wry but challenging look.

"Look, I don't expect to win." He reasoned, "But I can hold my own."

Coulson snorted as he stepped off the mats and picked up his water bottle, sitting down on one of the benches as he wiped a towel against the back of his neck and over his head.

And Mace did, actually, hold his own. Daisy gave her true fifty percent, as she had started to with Coulson, but otherwise she didn't hold back, and he didn't hold back either. They traded grapples and hits rather consistently, and though Daisy frequently got the upper hand, Mace just as frequently wriggled his way free in one way or another.

Granted, a part of that had to do with how little Daisy wanted to find herself on top of him. Or underneath him.

(How much she _did_  want to.)

She eventually forgot all about Coulson as their audience as she discovered up close and personal how Mace worked, how he moved, how his skin slicked with sweat and his hair curled when wet. Somehow their sparring match turned into a kind of dance; their hits parrying more then landing solid, both of them reaching that sort of etherial adrenalin-fueled zone and neither backing down. It was like a runner's high, but better; shared with another person, almost perfectly and inexplicably in sync.

Daisy had been working with Coulson for almost a full half hour before this, so she eventually began to tire, but she didn't want to stop. She attributed that decision to how she ended up flat on her back, Mace straddling over her on his hands and knees, caging her in. She was too tired to shift their positions, which she could have done easily considering he didn't actually have a hold on her.

Instead, she lay there trying to catch her breath, grinning wildly up at him. He laughed lightly as he grinned back, just as out of breath as she was. His eyes were dancing joyfully as he looked down at her, and she knew they were both staring again, but she still didn't move yet. She didn't want the workout to end; she didn't want them to both go shower and dress and look for all the world like this moment never happened.

She couldn't exactly name what had happened, while they'd sparred, but something had.

A bead of sweat dripped off the end of his nose, landing on her near the corner of her mouth. She blinked in surprise, and his expression flashed with an apology, but before he could move away or say anything, her tongue darted out and touched the salty tang, as if it had been ketchup from a bite of hamburger.

The humor in Mace's eyes very quickly shifted into something a little more serious, and suddenly the heat in her body wasn't just from the workout she'd just finished. Slowly she allowed the hint of a smile on her face, and touched her tongue against her bottom lip as she considered instead putting it against the hollow of his throat.

His mouth parted slightly, and his eyes grew intent.

"Wow, you should have put a bet on it!" Coulson reminded them of his presence by joking a little more loudly than necessary and throwing a towel over Mace's head.

Mace quickly leaned back and shifted off of Daisy, reaching up to scrub the towel over his face and head and probably scrub away any arousal in his expression before Coulson saw it. If Coulson hadn't seen it already, anyway.

Daisy pushed herself up onto her hands, leaning on them as she frowned at Coulson.

"If you tell a soul, I will deny it 'til my dying breath. And no one would believe you." She threatened, and Coulson gave her his patented smirk.

"There are cameras in here," He teased, and she narrowed her eyes at him as she got to her feet. "Maybe you'll want to delete the footage, then," He continued to tease as he strolled out of the room, chuckling to himself.

Daisy knew what he was saying, though.

It would probably be a good idea if no one else found out about what had just happened between she and Mace. Sure, they hadn't actually kissed or done anything inappropriate, but that didn't make it any less intimate.

And anyway, she was pretty sure that it had probably looked like they _almost_  kissed.

"Can I at least tell Piper that I beat you?" Mace whined, as if nothing weird had happened.

"She won't believe you, either." Daisy snorted, also as if nothing weird had happened.

They stared at one another, almost warily in a way, and Daisy touched her finger against the corner of her mouth. He opened his mouth, maybe to say something, but she quickly announced that she had to go shower before getting to work on some overdue paperwork.

She lamented washing away his scent from their workout, but she felt much more like herself afterwards. More in control of herself. Much less likely to track him down and drag him into the nearest empty room and taste his skin against her mouth.

Daisy didn't totally delete the footage of their sparring match, though. She removed it from the S.H.I.E.L.D. files, of course, but she kept it saved on her own computer.

 

**——— 6.**

_Isn't such a thing_  
_As you do to me_  
_Your sweet poison sting_  
_Let's me see_  
_I'll be your king 'cause you are my queen_

A month later, Daisy found herself standing back-to-back with Mace, the two of them surrounded by a half-dozen Watchdog goons. And even though they weren't fighting one another, even though they weren't exactly prepared for this and hadn't partnered up on a combat op together before, it happened again. That syncopation, that 'runner's high'.

They ducked and weaved around one another as they more or less stayed back-to-back, fighting off the Watchdogs until every single one of them was unconscious on the ground at their feet. It was almost an out-of-body experience.

She sort of stayed in that out-of-body zone even after they returned to base, checked in with Jemma, and debriefed Coulson on the mission. She didn't completely return back to focus until she and Mace were both peeling off their outer armor and hanging their suits in their respective lockers.

They happened to glance at one another at the same time, and it was more of a tired look than anything filled with heat.

That didn't matter, apparently.

Daisy gasped quietly as her back thumped up against the locker doors, Mace's body pressed against hers as he took the opportunity to slant his mouth over her parted lips. It was all heat and desperation, adrenalin-fueled desire that had been long kept hidden within both of them. She let him take over because this was one match she didn't want to win.

He kissed her as if he craved her, and she admittedly moaned rather easily as she was swept up in the feel and taste and smell of him. He tangled his fingers into her hair, guiding her head at just the right angle for him to dip his tongue inside of her mouth and taste her. She returned the favor; pushing her fingers into his hair and holding on to him as she kissed him back.

He hummed a pleased sound, and stepped closer so his lower half was pressing in as well, his hips and legs fitting against hers enticingly. She shifted her hips experimentally and he kissed her even harder than before, all mouth and tongue like he couldn't get enough of her.

The main door pushed open suddenly, and they sprung apart, both turning a bit haphazardly and hiding their faces behind their open locker doors.

“Oh my God, were you just frenching the Director?!” Elena exclaimed quietly, frozen just inside the entrance of the room.

“No!” Daisy immediately denied, staring at her friend in shock. “What? No!”

She glanced at Mace, who in turn glanced at Elena and shifted his feet a little, attempting to be subtle about it as he wiped his fingers against his lips. Elena gaped at the both of them, and Mace cleared his throat as he nervously scratched his brow.

"I, uh," His voice was a little rougher than usual and it made Daisy's toes curl. She'd just been kissing that mouth. "I've gotta see Coulson about something." He kept his head down as he quickly slipped around both women and out of the room.

Elena watched him go, her expression unwavering, and then returned that expression toward Daisy again. Daisy pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, still feeling the weight of his.

"We were arguing." Daisy eventually said, and she'd taken too long to come up with that excuse for it to be believable.

"With your hands in each other's hair?" Elena smirked widely, her eyes dancing with delight. "Damn, Mack was right!"

"What?" Daisy demanded suspiciously. "What has Mack said?"

Elena took her time answering, though; a shit-eating grin on her face as she approached her own locker and began perusing through it.

"You two acting weird together. He thought perhaps you were sneaking around." Elena turned to face Daisy directly. "And I caught you!"

"You came in here on purpose!" Daisy protested, pointing at Elena's locker. "You don't need anything from there!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Elena shrugged, though she did grab a set of workout gear before closing her locker door. "It's still a fact you had your tongues in each other's mouth."

"Shh!" Daisy hissed, glancing toward the main door. "It's not - we're not - it's not a thing, okay? Mace and I aren't together. It was just... a moment."

Elena raised her eyebrow dubiously.

"Some moment." She commented. "Not counting Mack, but, I've had less sexy moments with long-term boyfriends."

"It was just a moment!" Daisy hissed again, insisting, and Elena shrugged.

"Sure,"

"And don't tell Mack!" Daisy ordered. "Or anyone, for that matter. It's not a thing."

Elena promised to keep quiet about what she'd seen, but when Daisy returned to her quarters, she didn't sleep for a while.

It was definitely a thing.

 

**——— 7.**

_In and out here we go, oh oh_  
_Over and again and again_  
_And all the love you give to me_  
_Mama, I'ma give it back to you_

The following morning, Daisy walked in to the kitchen to discover Mace preparing a cup of coffee. There were plenty of other agents milled about as they started their day, so she found herself easily capable to continue her morning routine without doing anything weird around him.

Mace, however, looked up and saw her and proceeded to miss his mug, pouring a bit of the hot coffee onto his hand. He flinched and hissed, quickly setting the coffee pot onto the counter and putting his knuckle against his mouth to soften the sting.

Daisy bit the inside of her cheek as she turned away and left the room with only an apple in her hand. She'd get her own coffee later. Coulson had noticed Mace's clumsiness and was already giving him an odd look - she didn't need to garner any further suspicion from him, either.

When she later stopped by the Director's office with a new stack of Inhuman files for him to sign, she briefly touched her fingers against his knuckle, still a little reddened from the burn that morning. He looked at her quickly and she gave him a small smile as she stroked his skin. There were other agents in his office, so she didn't feel comfortable saying anything, and she pulled her hands back to herself before any of the others noticed the lingering contact.

Mace gave her a comforted smile and a small nod, looking a little sheepish. Her smile widened a bit teasingly and she turned to leave the room before the moment turned into another one of their staring contests.

She passed Coulson on the stairs, and his face did a weird thing before he smiled genially.

"I'm starting to think you're spending more time with Director Mace than you did with Director me," Coulson joked, and Daisy knew his intention. He wasn't jealous - he was fishing.

"Just dropped off a few more Inhuman Relocation files for him," She jutted her thumb back up toward the top of the stairs, and smirked. "He's probably up there cursing my name and the amount of paperwork I always make for him."

Coulson raised his eyebrow in mutual amusement, and then asked,

"How's his hand?"

"Oh, it's fine - " Daisy stopped herself immediately, but his expression had already changed. He eyeballed her searchingly, studying her, and her brow twitched as she gauged him as well.

He tilted his head a little, like he was silently trying to dig something out of her, but she didn't budge, and only blinked at him.

"The mission went very well yesterday. Smoothly." He commented casually, though that searching expression was still on his face. "A bit surprising, considering it was his first small-team op." Daisy didn't immediately reply, wondering where he was going with this. He sounded legitimately surprised when he added, "You two make a pretty good team."

"Right?" Daisy honestly agreed. "Surprised me, too."

"I bet it did." He mused, and something in his eye made her narrow her gaze at him. His poker face still wasn't that good, so she believed that he was only teasing her. He didn't have any real fodder, yet; he was just using his assumptions.

"I've got a lot of work to do." Daisy announced brusquely, wanting to end the conversation before she accidentally did something to confirm his assumptions. Though.... "You are right about one thing, though; we haven't spent time together in a while. Beer later tonight? Maybe some Call of Duty?"

He brightened at that, his attention sufficiently diverted, and nodded.

"I'd love to." He agreed, and she smiled and nodded as well, tapping his arm fondly before she continued on down the stairs.

She would have to make sure to prepare the rest of the day, though, that he might try to provoke something out of her later.

 

**——— 8.**

_Oh, don't let it get away_  
_And if we did, we gonna get it back_  
_All in time you and me_  
_We will, we will, we will, we will be_

" _Wow_." Daisy blurted out before she could stop herself.

For a guy that wore suits every single day, he still managed to make a tuxedo look _fine_.

Coulson and Mack glanced at one another, sharing a wry look, and Daisy cleared her throat as she tried to be casual.

"You guys ready to go?" She asked from the doorway. She was afraid that if she entered the office, Mace wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Yep." Mack nodded.

"Sure." Coulson agreed, and before anyone could say anything else, the two of them slipped by Daisy and out into the hall. She turned to watch them go, a confused expression on her face, until she turned back to face the Director again.

He eyes were pointed somewhere to the side of her, hesitant, mildly embarrassed.

Without another second thought, she closed the door behind her and in that same movement pressed forward, kissing him fully on the mouth. He stood impassively, his body completely still against the weight of hers, his hands hanging calmly by his sides.

His lips told a different story, however - he returned her kiss with just as much if not more fervor than what she gave, his mouth moving with fierce determination.

She tucked her hands into her back pockets to force herself not to grab onto and wrinkle his suit, but she parted her lips when she felt his tongue, granting it entry. He had a lot of talent with that tongue; both with the words he spoke and with...other things. She moaned, quietly, both of them feeling it reverberate between them. He released her mouth with a quiet sigh, his eyes closed for a moment after, as if he were savoring her like he would a glass of wine. She had to admit that made warmth flood through her straight down to her toes, but she took half a step back from him, letting the cool air pass between them and clear a bit of the heaviness out of the room.

"I know it's just some fancy black-tie event, but please keep yourself safe, okay?" She murmured, and he opened his eyes.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied just as softly.

She looked down at his suit again, because if she continued to look into his eyes she would probably kiss him again. She rested her palm against the lapel of his jacket, and smoothed it down although it hadn't wrinkled. Her eyes drifted down to his trousers, and she wasn't sure if it was the particular cut of the fabric or what, but they made his legs look impossibly long.

"This is nice," She managed to say, dragging her eyes back up before she started staring at other parts of him that she didn't need to be staring at right now. "Nicer than your usual."

"It's more comfortable than I expected," He admitted, tugging at the bottom of his jacket a little.

"Mm," She agreed, "It is soft." She touched his shoulder again, sliding her palm down his chest. His chest rose against her hand as he breathed in deeply, but he let her continue to touch him.

"Daisy, I need to go." He murmured, and she raised her eyebrow at him.

"I'm not stopping you."

"You are," He argued, and she couldn't help but smile a little as she tilted forward on her toes to lightly kiss his mouth once more, unable to resist it, but settling back before he could return the gesture. She brushed her thumb against his lips, making sure there weren't any signs of their kissing. He looked at her like he didn't want to leave yet, like he wanted to ask her something, but she stepped back from him again.

"You need to go," She agreed, laughing a little bit at herself. She shoved her hands into her pockets again. "As much as I'm really enjoying the view, I might start taking that off of you if I keep - "

He reached out and grabbed onto her elbows, tugging her against him and kissing her deeply. He drank her in as much as he could in just a few moments, his tongue tangling with hers until her knees felt weak. He was stoking a fire within her, one that she wasn't sure would go out anytime soon.

"I'll see you when I get back." He promised in a rough growl, holding her at arm's length and letting go of her before he stepped around her toward the door.

She stayed where she was as he left her alone in his office, his words carving an undeniable change in her bones, his tone setting her skin alight with desire, the arousal she'd felt in his trousers making her breath quicken.

This thing between them, it was definitely something.

The Watchdogs didn't care about Daisy's personal life, though, and not a half hour after the three men left for the Congressman's gala, Davis received a backup request from an agent working a few hours north. Apparently they'd stumbled upon a distribution warehouse, and they needed more manpower to take it down.

It was a big score for S.H.I.E.L.D. and a big loss for the Watchdogs, but it took Daisy away from base for almost thirty-four hours. Suffice to say, she was not in much of a mood for anything other than a shower and sleep once she got back. She wasn't even sure in which order she preferred the two.

"Why are you so cranky?" Elena wondered as they sat across from one another in the jump seats of the Quinjet, on their way back to HQ along with their haul of weapons. All the Watchdogs that had been at the warehouse were already in police custody, thankfully, so they at least didn't have to deal with them anymore.

"I haven't slept in forty-eight hours." Daisy grumbled, her eyes closed and her head tilted back. She was remembering Mace in that tuxedo, though, and lamenting that she hadn't had the opportunity to take it off of him.

"Is that it?" Elena asked, and Daisy opened one eye at her. She looked coy, and Daisy straightened to focus her full gaze on her. She shrugged, and said, "Mack texted me that he was glad this mission of ours went so well, because the Director was awfully pissy when they'd returned to find us gone."

Daisy frowned. Was he mad at her? It wasn't like she bailed - she certainly hadn't _wanted_  to.

"Short-tempered." Elena added. "Worried. Frustrated."

Ah, so he wasn't angry. Daisy relaxed, and rested her head back again.

"This whole thing happened with little to no warning, considering he was out of contact when we'd first left." Daisy pointed out. "He's the Director. He doesn't like being out of the loop on operations. Coulson might design them, but Mace still needs to sign off. And they were _both_  gone."

"Especially operations that you're involved in." Elena noted, and Daisy opened her eyes again, but she kept her gaze on the ceiling above her. "I heard you had quite the reaction to the boys' suits before they left for the party," Elena sing-songed, and Daisy scowled at the ceiling.

"Those men gossip more than any woman I've ever met." Daisy complained, and Elena laughed.

"It was almost 'a thing', wasn't it?" Elena figured knowingly, clearly having not forgotten their conversation in the locker room last week. "The warehouse interrupted your plans."

"You don't know me!" Daisy protested, and Elena snorted.

"I know sexual frustration when I see it," She returned, and raised her eyebrow. "And I do know you, chica. You care about that man a lot and it freaks you out."

As soon as she said it Daisy knew that she was right, and she squeezed her eyes closed tighter as she groaned quietly. Elena might know Daisy better than she knew herself.

"You also want to jump his bones and you keep getting interrupted," Elena's tone was far too amused, and Daisy looked at her once more, giving her a warning glare.

"Whose bones we talkin' about?" Davis wondered, catching the tail end of their conversation as he maneuvered from the cock-pit toward one of the seats next to Elena, buckling himself in. "The Director's, right?" He asked Elena but looked to Daisy for confirmation.

Daisy stared at him wide-eyed. How the hell did _he_  know?!

"Piper says we're about ten minutes out, by the way." He told them casually, as if there were nothing strange at all about this conversation.

" _I do not_ want to jump Mace's bones!" Daisy protested, and Piper heard that one from the pilot's seat, and she snorted.

"Oh, please," They could hear the way she rolled her eyes, even if they couldn't see her face.

"Everyone has a bet on when you guys are finally gonna kiss," Davis announced, and Elena smacked the back of his head.

"You aren't supposed to tell them about it!" Elena scolded, as Piper called back in annoyance,

"Come on, Davis!"

"Everyone?" Daisy hissed, working her jaw as she considered what she was more frustrated about. Davis hesitated, glancing toward Elena, but since he'd already let the cat out of the bag, he shrugged and nodded.

"Agent May thinks you already have." He said, and Daisy choked.

" _May?!"_

"Everybody sees the way you two look at each other." Elena informed her gently. "You should just go for it, girl. Don't see why not. He's much less of a tight-ass now than he used to be." She reasoned.

"Unless you like that sort of thing," Davis muttered under his breath, and Elena smacked his head again.

"What is this, some kind of intervention?" Daisy demanded. She briefly entertained the thought of ruining their bet and telling them that May had (apparently) already won, but she wasn't comfortable actually confirming anything yet.

"Yes!" Piper called back seriously. "We would all really like not walking in on your weirdness anymore!"

"Our weirdness?" Daisy repeated. "Need I remind you that you and May - "

"Hey, we figured ourselves out a long time ago." Piper interrupted her before she could get anywhere with that one. "And Coulson already yelled at us enough times that we keep our shit behind closed doors. You and Mace are just, all over the place." She waved one hand vaguely through the air.

"We are _not_  'all over the place'," Daisy flustered, her imagination running away from her briefly, and Elena snorted.

"Maybe you _should_  be," She replied, making Davis laugh. Daisy frowned deeply at the both of them.

"This conversation ends here," She ordered. "All of you. Got it?" Elena huffed and rolled her eyes. "He's the fucking boss, for crying out loud."

"You should be fucking the boss," Piper corrected over her shoulder, before focusing on landing the jet.

"Oh my _God_ ," Daisy groaned, rubbing her hand over her face.

"Happy boss happy troops, right?" Davis pointed out, and Elena nodded. Daisy gave them both a wry look.

"It's 'happy wife, happy household'." She informed them.

"Same difference." Davis shrugged.

"I am _not_  talking about this with you guys." Daisy insisted.

"We're right and you know it," Elena prodded one last time, but they did thankfully leave it at that.

After the Quinjet landed and they all disembarked, Daisy pointed at the other three as she stepped through the main doors.

"You get to debrief Mace on the mission. I'm going to bed."

"Hey, you can't - !" Davis started to protest, and Piper shouted over him,

"Wussy!"

Daisy shot a casual burst of her powers back behind her as she walked away, just enough to trip Piper onto her ass.

"No fair!" Piper shouted after her, but Daisy just smiled a little and kept walking toward her quarters.

Mace admittedly might worry a little that Daisy was avoiding him, but she just didn't have the energy to face him right now. She barely managed to change into pajamas before she crashed face-first onto her mattress.

When she finally did sleep, her dreams were overrun by all the different places on base she could get away with screwing Mace's brains out.

 

**——— 9.**

_Over and again and again_  
_Turn around here we go, oh oh_  
_Over and again and again_  
_All of the love you give to me_  
_Mama, I'ma give it back to you_

"Where's Mace? I need to speak to him immediately." Talbot demanded of Daisy, after cornering her in the hallway. She gave him a look.

"One, I'm not his secretary - I don't know his daily schedule." She sassed, and folded her arms across her chest. "That said... pretty sure he's doing his check-up with Simmons right now."

"In the lab?" Talbot asked, and Daisy stared at him for a minute. He didn't unclench, and she sighed.

"Yeah, come on. But if Simmons yells at you because you've raised his blood pressure, don't say that I didn't warn ya." She tossed over her shoulder as she led Talbot down the hall and toward the labs.

"Your leg hasn't been cramping up on you lately, has it? No? Good, that's good. The scar still looks healthy. Just keep eating your fruits and vegetables, sir. Keep those potassium levels regulated!"

Daisy heard Jemma's voice, but didn't see her at first, and when she did, she literally had to double-take at what she was looking at.

Jemma was clearly checking out Mace's old gunshot wound, crouched down behind him with her hands on the back of his thigh, but it was Mace standing there in the med-pod with his gym shorts down around his ankles that made Daisy's mouth fall open.

And then she ran face-first into the door frame, not quite making it through the open doorway.

"Jesus, Johnson, walk much?" Talbot's hand steadied against her back when she stumbled back from the glass, but she didn't really feel it, as she was still staring openly at those _way too tiny_  briefs Mace was wearing.  _What the hell were those?_

"Hey, Daisy." Mace greeted her casually, as if he didn't just see her walk face-first into a door frame. The hidden smirk at the corner of his lips said otherwise, and Daisy pressed her lips together as she tried to focus her eyes on the corner of the room, not directly on him.

"Daisy?" Jemma questioned, and then she noticed Talbot as well and she straightened. "You can pull your pants up, sir." She told Mace wryly. "General Talbot," She greeted him a little more tersely. "What can we do for you?

"I need the Director." Talbot replied primly, and glanced down Mace's legs and back up, his mustache twitching. "Dressed, preferably. What are those? Diving shorts? This isn't the Olympics, boy - wear normal underwear like everybody else."

"I don't mind them." Daisy blurted, and Jemma look like she'd just sucked on a lemon. Talbot's face turned red as he either refrained from saying anything, or couldn't decide exactly what to say in enough time to breathe.

Mace winked at Daisy, and then tugged his gym shorts back up as if nothing were amiss.

"Thanks for the positive bill of health, Jemma." He told the doctor cheerfully, and gave Daisy a little grin as he brushed by her and strode out of the labs. Talbot stayed where he was, at first.

"Am I missing something?" He demanded, his eyes narrowing in Daisy's direction.

"Nothing at all." She replied innocently. He clearly didn't believe her, but he followed after the Director without another word.

Jemma burst out laughing the moment the general had disappeared down the hallway.

"You ran into the door!" She exclaimed, as if Daisy had forgotten. "I should've gotten that on film!" She laughed harder, and then looked delighted. "Security cameras!"

"Don't you dare." Daisy groaned, following Jemma to her work desk and sliding onto one of the stools. "I was just... unprepared for uh, whatever that was." She straightened and gave her friend a wry look. "As if _you_  reacted totally normally after he dropped his shorts?"

"I admit I did question his attire of choice," Jemma murmured, looking a little red in the face now, as well, "But he seemed honestly embarrassed that he hadn't done laundry yet and had run out of ... uh, other underwear. I think he called them ringer briefs? I've never heard of them, honestly, and-"

"I don't need to _know what they are_ ," Daisy hissed, and Jemma huffed, but it was in annoyance at Mace, not at Daisy.

"Now it's obvious that he did that on purpose, hoping you'd walk in."

"How do you know that?!" Daisy demanded, and Jemma raised her eyebrow at her like she was being dense.

"I would have expected the Director to be shy, or embarrassed to be caught while I was examining an old wound he received in part because he'd been lying about his powers. _Especially_  that _you_  were the one that walked in on the examination. But he wasn't embarrassed at all. He was _cocky_."

"Please don't say that." Daisy groaned, and Jemma realized what she'd said and snorted, glancing at her friend as she also typed something into her computer. "What are you doing?" Daisy asked suspiciously, leaning to look over her shoulder.

"Nothing," Jemma replied, still typing away, grinning to herself as she pulled up security feeds. Daisy groaned again.

"Oh, come on," It was like a train wreck, though; watching herself stroll into the labs, visibly double-take once she neared the med pod, and then,

"Bam!" Jemma laughed, and Daisy shoved against her side. "I thought that only happened in the movies!" She had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard, and even Daisy had to smile at it, even though she was still thoroughly embarrassed. There goes any argument that she doesn't fancy the Director.

"What only happened in the movies?" Fitz wondered, walking into the labs with one of Coulson's prosthetics in his hands.

"Oh, oh _Fitz_ , _look_ ," Jemma reached out for him and tugged him close to the computer, and Daisy dropped her head into her hands as he curiously watched the computer screen.

"Is he _naked_?" Fitz squawked indignantly, drawing himself out of Jemma's grasp, and she managed to control her laughter so that she could assure him otherwise.

"No, no, he's not _naked_  - I'm a doctor, Fitz; I've seen many agents in various states of undress, you can't seriously get fussy about that _now_. Anyway, he wasn't naked,"

"Other agents aren't the Director! The Patriot! All..." He pursed his lips and squeezed his free hand a couple of times to make a fist. Daisy raised her eyebrow, as it looked like he'd made a 'booby' gesture more than anything else.

"He's not _Captain_ _America_ ," Daisy rolled her eyes.

"He _is_  pretty easy on the eyes, though, isn't he?" Jemma teased, elbowing Daisy.

"Stop," Daisy pushed her hand away and got to her feet. "I've got to go look that man in the eyes now like I don't know exactly what his underwear looks like."

"Oh, it's worse than that, Johnson." Talbot's dry voice behind her made her flinch, and whirl around. She thanked the stars that Mace wasn't with him, at least. She narrowed her eyes, and Talbot told her, "You have to sit next to him during a press interview."

"What." Daisy felt like her blood was thickening inside of her veins. Cameras? Reporters? " _Now?"_

"Yes, _now_." He pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. "Whatever this frat-house pranking is about, it ends now. You're S.H.I.E.L.D. agents!"

"Pranking?" Daisy repeated, and glanced at Jemma with a wide-eyed look. Did Mace actually manage to talk his way out of that?

The man in question strolled down the hallway and appeared in the doorway behind Talbot.

"Is there anything you _can't_  talk your way out of?" Daisy demanded, and his eyes glittered with amusement.

"Talbot's orders for public appearances, apparently." He quipped.

"Let's _go_ ," Talbot huffed, turning on his heel and pushing by Mace to head to the hangar.

"Ready?" Mace asked Daisy cheerily, and she scowled at him.

"You're a damn _tease_ ," She hissed at him when they were alone in the hallway. "It's not _my_  fault I got called away on a mission!"

"I don't know what you mean; I ran out of all my other underwear," He replied calmly, but he was smiling with quiet laughter, and she smacked his arm. "It's not as if I knew you'd walk into the labs while I was finishing up my physical."

"You'd _hoped_  for it!" She pointed out, and he glanced behind them before he turned and used his body to push her back against the brick wall.

"Of course I _hoped for it_ ," He whispered starkly, keeping his voice down though they were temporarily alone in the abandoned hall, Talbot already far ahead of them. "I hope to see you every damn day!"

He was close enough that his eyes darted side to side as he looked into hers, his frustrated breaths ghosting against her face. Her expression softened at his declaration, and she fingered the edges of his open suit jacket for a moment.

"Every day?" She teased lightly, and he huffed with mild embarrassment. She danced her fingers against the front of his shirt, and up the length of his tie. "Trying to lure me in with your, eh, _wiles_ , huh?"

"Did it work?" He asked haughtily, and she snorted.

"I do admire the sheer brass it took to stand there as regally as you did, in front of Talbot no less, with your pants down around your ankles." She joked, though her hands danced back down his torso, curling around his hips, just above his belt.

"I want you, Daisy," He whispered softly, all of his previous haughtiness gone, and she held her breath. There was sex in his tone, sure, of course, though there was something else too. His fingers rested gently against her waist and his forehead brushed against hers before he then leaned in fully. "You drive me to such distraction," He murmured, his lips just barely touching hers.

"I distract _you?"_  She laughed wryly, but she tugged him even closer so that his chest and hips were leaning against her more completely, too. He shifted easily, fluidly, fitting against her like they were already familiar with this. He was warm and solid and she didn't mind the brick against her back.

He slowly nuzzled her nose with his, and she smiled warmly, but she pressed her fingers into his shirt before he could tilt his chin up and kiss her.

"Not here," She murmured without moving her lips. "Let's not end the bet yet."

"The bet?" He wondered just as quietly, leaning his head back to look at her more fully.

"The team has a kissing bet going on," She raised her eyebrow, and he nodded in realization, and smirked. He glanced away for a moment, toward the hangar, because they both had become aware that they had an audience in the other direction. He nodded again before returning his gaze to her, and they gingerly let go of one another and parted, straightening themselves out.

"Let's go before Talbot comes back and drags us out there forcefully." He sighed dejectedly, and watched her as she straightened from the wall and palmed the back of her hair flat. "I'm going to have a hard time looking at you during this thing. And, you know, keeping it all _casual_."

"Pff," She snorted, "And you don't even know what underwear I'm wearing." She made a face, and he smirked a little. Then she added, "Or, if I'm even wearing any underwear at all."

He froze, staring at her, and she grinned coyly and strode off without waiting for him.

 

**——— 10.**

_Oh and the love_  
_That you ever had I give it back to you_  
_Again_  
_Mama, I'ma give it back to you_

"Why are we doing this, again?" Daisy wondered under her breath, her shoulder bumping into Mace's as she had to lean in closer to be heard.

"Positive public press," Mace reminded her, turning his head to speak into her ear. His lips just barely brushed against the shell of her ear, causing a shiver to erupt down the side of her neck and her arm. She ignored that as best she could.

Speaking of the public; they were right in the middle of it, meandering through a crowded waterfront bbq festival. They were supposed to be blending in, more or less - not undercover or anything, but just 'hanging out'. Daisy had been worried about being overrun by folks wanting photos, or autographs, or demanding answers to tough questions, but she was pleasantly surprised to have been proven wrong on that front. They were still approached by plenty of people, but for the most part the crowd was decently respectful.

That, and Mack, Coulson, and May were never far away. The three of them certainly did _not_  blend in, so people were also respectful of the bodyguards that Daisy and Mace had.

"I wish we were alone," Mace murmured even more quietly, his nose lingering against her hair almost too long. "You smell so good." Their hands brushed together briefly, and Daisy tangled two of her fingers around his for a couple of moments.

"The press would have a field day," She snorted, and he nodded as he returned to a casual distance beside her, their hands drifting apart. His sunglasses were hiding his eyes, but she could read the small quirk of his lips easily enough. Her own glasses-covered gaze drifted down his form for a moment, admiringly. "As it is, they probably already are - have you ever worn jeans in public before? I'm surprised anybody even recognizes you right now," She teased.

"Not in a long time," He admitted, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It's so nice." He paused for a long moment, and glanced at her briefly. "Very _freeing_."

"Jeffrey!" She scolded him, jabbing him hard in his side with two of her fingers. He twisted away from the brief pain and laughed. Daisy smiled at the sound, and looped her elbow around his.

"Is this a good idea?" He questioned, raising his eyebrow at her though he squeezed his arm in closer to his side, to hold on to her.

"Probably not." She shrugged. "We're friends, though, right?"

"I'd like to think so," He replied warmly, a wide and pleased smile on his face.

"Well then," She figured, "If anybody asks, we're friends."

"That easy, huh?" He sounded contemplative, and she leaned against him briefly as they walked.

"Come on, it's just another part of the act, right?" She reasoned, and he swallowed and nodded, slowly looking more relaxed again.

"Yeah. Right." He glanced to his right, just as they were passing a hot dog stand. "Oo!"

Their newfound dinner in hand, they put a little distance between them again as they walked through the sand instead of along the boardwalk. Daisy laughed as she watched him take a gigantic first bite.

"You are obscene." She commented, and he moaned happily around his mouthful of food.

"You don't know how long it's been since I've had a hot dog." He declared. His tongue darted out to catch a bit of mustard that had gotten on his cheek, and Daisy couldn't help but stare at his mouth as she briefly imagined him putting that tongue on her, instead.

She couldn't make any dirty suggestions to him, though, because a moment later they were approached by a small gaggle of kids, each pushing at one another in wide-eyed amazement as they gaped at she and Mace.

"Oh man, can we get a picture? _Please?"_

"Can we finish our food, first?" Mace returned not unkindly, giving the kids a grin. "What are your names?" He distracted them with questions while he and Daisy ate, sounding like he was genuinely interested in each of their responses.

Daisy didn't hate kids, certainly, but she'd always felt a little awkward around them. She was fascinated to watch as Mace actually seemed even more in his element now than he did when surrounded by politicians or reporters.

"Quake is our hero!" All three of the boys declared proudly, and Daisy raised her eyebrows in surprise at Mace. He pretended to pout, but one of the two girls piped up that The Patriot was her favorite, and he grinned at that.

They took a couple of pictures with the kids, normal smiles and some goofy ones, and after that Daisy felt a little more at ease as the two of them once more continued strolling down the beach.

"I wish I could hold your hand." Daisy admitted softly, aware that their 'security crew' were following a little more closely now.

"Me, too." Mace agreed immediately, like he'd been thinking about it at the same time.

When May eventually suggested they head out, as the sun was setting and it would get harder to keep an eye out for threats, Mace agreed that they'd been roaming through the crowds for long enough.

"Our supporting congressmen and women should be more than happy with that outing today," Mace sighed tiredly as he and Daisy climbed into the back of the SUV.

"I'm just glad I never had to do this stuff," Coulson replied with a smirk as he buckled in up front. May was driving, and Mack sat in the far back row of seats, turned sideways so he could stretch his legs out a little.

Mace sat with his hand resting on the middle of the bench between them, and Daisy looked out the window as she slid her hand over to cover his fingers with her own. Neither of them really called attention to it, and if May noticed in the rearview mirror, she didn't say anything.

The entire ride back to base was spent in comfortable silence, but she was thinking about his jeans, his warm hands, his mouth, his laugh. She thought of his sincerity and joy as he interacted with those kids. She thought of the way he moaned as he'd bitten into that hotdog. She wondered if he really was going commando. Then she wondered if he was wearing a pair of that underwear she'd seen before, and she wasn't sure which scenario she liked better.

By the time May parked the SUV in the hangar at HQ, Daisy was tense from keeping herself from squirming in her seat, or from sliding her hand further up Mace's arm, or over across his thigh.

"You want a beer?" She was quite impressed with herself for sounding so casual as the group strolled into the main hall.

"After an event like that?" Mace snorted. "I've got something stronger in my office. Come on up, I'll share."

He sounded just as casual, but Daisy noticed Mack and Coulson share a look. She also noticed that when they all entered the common room, the other three headed for the kitchen without a word, knowing that Mace's offer wasn't open-ended.

Well, if they weren't going to say anything, neither was she.

She followed him up the stairs quietly, her anticipation growing even further with every step. When they walked beyond his office without going inside, her steps didn't falter, but she was pretty sure she stopped breathing.

Her body felt like it was already singing, _finally_ , _finally_ ; her body knew what was coming even if her brain didn't quite want to accept it, yet. There was still plenty of time and opportunity for them to get interrupted again, after all.

Mace opened the door to his quarters, but gestured for her to enter first, his eyes unwavering from her although she eyed the room curiously as she stepped inside. She hadn't been in here, before; she hadn't even seen it when it was Coulson's.

It was surprisingly different than the rather clinical style of his office; all warm and cozy and even a little cluttered. And his _bed_ , holy -

"Director's perks?" Daisy complained, raising her eyebrow as she gestured toward the large mattress.

He grinned as he closed the door behind them, but his grin wasn't entirely innocent. Daisy's brief humorous attitude immediately fell away, and her hands itched to touch him.

She stepped toward him, reaching for his shirt and tugging it to pull him closer, but he grasped her arms to halt her.

"What?" She wondered, already breathless. She couldn't stop staring at the curve of his lips. She wanted to trace them with her tongue; she wondered if they would taste like a hint of spicy mustard.

"We've got time," He soothed gently, sliding his hands down her arms until he grasped her hands.

"How do you know?" She sounded a little too desperate, but she _really_  did not want to be interrupted this time.

"Because," He cocked his eyebrow a little haughtily, "I'm the boss." He pulled her against him slowly, tilting his head in toward hers. "I'll make time, if I have to." He murmured, dragging the moment out as long as he could.

She kept as still as she could, but that only lasted for a couple of seconds before she licked against his mouth, causing him to close the distance quickly and finally kiss her. It had been weeks since their last kiss, since he'd worn his tux, but that fire inside her roared to life as if it'd never gone out. He held her hands firmly by her sides, but he couldn't do anything about her tongue, so she used that advantage and fought for control of the kiss until he eventually gave in, moaning as she kissed him deeply.

His fingers slid up her arms again, and around her back, until he was clutching her against him and curling his tongue into her mouth and taking control once more. She lifted her freed hands up to his hair, holding on as they made out, dancing her hips against him a little bit.

"Slow," He murmured against her lips, his hands drifting down to her waist. "Daisy," The way he said her name made her tilt her head back enough to part their mouths, and look at him. "Trust me?"

She smiled softly, and nodded. She took a breath to clear some of the lust from her mind for a moment.

"I trust you." She told him truthfully.

"I want to make you feel better than you've ever felt before." He told her intently, his gaze direct. "Because that's the way you make me feel."

She blinked in surprise, momentarily unsure of how to respond to that.

"Okay." She replied dumbly, and then chuckled at herself. He grinned, and kissed her warmly for a moment.

"Okay," He drawled lowly, sliding his mouth against her jaw, and along the side of her neck.

" _Okay_ ," She breathed out as sharp arousal coursed down her spine. His fingers danced up beneath the bottom of her shirt, hot against her skin, and she tried to focus on that and on slowing the path of her own hands; down the front of his shirt, against the sides of his hips, around the back of his jeans.

"Daisy," He laughed into her shoulder as she squeezed his butt, and she grinned.

"Hey, we can do slow - but I've been waiting _all day_  to do that. That's slow enough for me."

He laughed again, kissing her as she squeezed him again.

 

**——— Bonus**

"Another beer and one more round?" Coulson challenged as Daisy huffed, sliding down slightly against the couch cushions next to him.

"You just like that you've found something you can kick my ass at," She grumbled.

"Hey, I can kick your ass in many ways!" Coulson protested, and Daisy turned her head against the back of the couch to give him a wry look. "In some ways." He amended. "You know, you still owe me a rematch on the mats, too."

"You're a sore loser, Phil." Daisy sighed affectionately, pushing herself up to her feet and setting the controller on the coffee table. "But you're on."

"I'm competitive," He called out, correcting her, as she went to the fridge to collect a couple more bottles.

She stopped halfway there, though, because Mace walked into the common room. She stared at him in surprise.

"What's with the suit?" She wondered, eyeing his Patriot armor.

It certainly wasn't the first time she's seen him wear it, but it _was_  the first time since... well...

 _Wow_.

"Photo op," Mace sighed tiredly. "Some new ambassador friends of the President's were in town from Canada." He half smiled at her. "At least we know the approval rating of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still on the up and up."

"And I bet the approval rating of The Patriot, too, huh?" Coulson snarked teasingly, and Mace shrugged and nodded.

"Sure." He yawned, then, and reached for one of the side buckles of his armor. "I'll be back down in a minute, I've got to go take this off. Gets kind of uncomfortable after wearing it all day."

"Wait." Daisy stopped him before he could open the first buckle, and he froze, and raised his eyebrow at her. She lowered her eyes down to his boots, back up to his chest plate, and then his eyes. "Can I talk to you about something, real quick?" She requested. He nodded, and slowly relaxed his hands by his sides again. "In private." She added, and quickly licked her lips.

Both of his eyebrows lifted up, then, but he nodded again.

"Okay. Come on up, then," He suggested, still with that exhausted tone of voice, but she noticed that his shoulders weren't quite as slumped any more.

"Rain check on that game, Phil?" Daisy requested, already following after Mace toward the stairs before Coulson responded.

"I'm probably gonna call it a night, anyway," Coulson's smirk was apparent through his tone of voice. "This old man can't stay up all hours of the night anymore with serious repercussions the next day,"

"Old man my ass!" Daisy laughed, glancing back toward him. His smirk widened, and he looked pointedly over her shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Daisy." He said knowingly, and while she briefly entertained sticking her tongue out at him, she instead flipped him off as she turned back around and hopped up the steps. She heard his laughter behind her, but her eyes were on the pair of boots disappearing around the corner at the top of the stairs.

They met in his quarters, not his office.

"Don't take it off, yet," Daisy hurriedly told him as she stepped into his room and closed the door behind her.

"I - okay, but - hey, I don't want to take away from your Phil-time," Mace started, but Daisy shook her head as she grabbed onto his arms and guided him toward the middle of the room between the door and his bed.

"We'd been playing Call of Duty for hours. It's cool," She assured him, slowly sliding her hands down over his gauntlets before stepping back from him.

"Um... what - " He started to ask, but cut himself off when her fingers worked his belt open.

"Can I - " She changed her request to a statement of desire, "I want to take you in my mouth." She pulled open the first button of his combat trousers but then stopped, lifting her gaze back to his face. "Just like this."

He stared at her for a beat, his lips parted in surprise.

"Was this - " He swallowed against his dry throat and tried again, "Was this a spontaneous reaction, or have you been thinking about this before?"

"Kind of both," She admitted, dancing her fingers against his sides where his armor didn't cover him. "I've always thought the suit was pretty impressive, but this is the first time I'm seeing you in it after knowing what you look like _under_  it."

"Mmm, I understand that feeling entirely," He purred, tilting his head so that his nose brushed against her forehead.

"Just how uncomfortable is the armor? Can you lie down on the bed?"

"Right now, I'll do any damn thing you ask me to," He admitted, his tone full of hopeful anticipation, and Daisy grinned at him coyly before pushing her fingers against his chest plate, pushing him back toward his bed.

His knees bumped against it but he didn't sit yet, and she kissed him rather tenderly as she continued to pull open the rest of the buttons of his trousers. She dipped her hand inside, feeling him through the soft material of his boxers, slowly working him up as she continued to keep her kisses gentle.

"Can I at least take my gloves off?" He panted against her mouth, his fingertips touching the sides of her neck. She shook her head.

"Not yet." She removed her hand from his trousers, and guided him down onto the bed, waiting for him to scoot back before she climbed over him, straddling his legs. "I kind of like the idea that the only way you can really feel me is through here," She admitted, sliding her hand back into the opening of his pants, inside of his boxers as well this time, finding him hot and hard.

He moaned behind pressed lips, his brow furrowing as he watched her pull his length out into the open air, her fist twisting knowingly. She shifted on her knees until she was comfortable, and then glanced at him once before lapping her tongue against his tip.

His muscles spasmed immediately and he sucked in a breath, gripping his fingers into his bedsheets as she began to work him over.

Usually, between both of their enthusiasm with this particular act, it tended to end fairly quicker than any of the others. Tonight, though, she made sure to take her time. Already intimately familiar with his body, she used her mouth and tongue and hands until he was panting and begging her.

"Daisy," He crooned brokenly, and she released him for a moment to grab a hold of his hand and press a kiss against his fingertips.

"I'm never gonna get tired of that," She hummed, continuing to kiss his fingers for a moment, before returning her attention to his leaking arousal.

He came shaking, pulsing against her tongue, his hips writhing up beneath her hands. She moved with him, keeping her lips around him until he had nothing left.

She then shifted upward and lay next to him, carding her fingers slowly through his hair until she could see that his eyes were opened and focused again. She smiled softly at him.

"You are so hot." She informed him, and he chuckled with that post-orgasm euphoria that lit his eyes up in a way she didn't see any other time. He quickly shucked off his gloves before grabbing onto her and pulling her over on top of him, kissing her deeply.

"Let me return the favor," He murmured against her skin, rolling them over and kissing her once more before sitting up on his knees to begin removing his Patriot suit.

* * *

 


End file.
